#glp-1s

Explaining why GLP-1 drugs improve health without weight loss defies simple narratives and confounds researchers. I’ve never come across another medical story in which scientists repeatedly apologize for how bewildering their results appear to be. For each one of the effects they dig into, they come to different explanations for how the drugs help. In some cases, GLP-1s seem to target the organs involved in diseases directly, making them healthier. In other cases, the drugs help the body handle blood sugar and fat, making people “more metabolically flexible” and “biochemically more youthful,” said Dr. DiMarchi.

One of the most mysterious and fascinating ways they work is through reducing inflammation. Inflammation is part of the body’s natural response to injury and infection. It can signal healing, but it can also be present and harmful in the context of chronic disease. Dr. Drucker’s lab at the University of Toronto has pivoted from studying chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity to unraveling the immune system effects of GLP-1s. “We realized very quickly one underlying theme of all these was inflammation,” he said, of the diseases.

Before GLP-1s, medicines that targeted inflammation — like steroids — worked by shutting it down, suppressing the immune system and making patients more vulnerable to infections and cancer. The effects of GLP-1s appear to be more subtle. Researchers told me they believe the drugs “dampen” or “fine-tune” the immune response, without the “sledgehammer” effect of steroids. One called this a new frontier in medicine.

Dr. Drucker has found that the cells in the gut that produce GLP-1 seem to detect pathogens, releasing the hormone as part of the body’s response to injury or infection. The drugs may harness that effect. But even the anti-inflammatory narrative of how GLP-1 drugs work is complicated, depending on the type and location of inflammation involved. “We should not assume, as many do, that there is one simple way the drugs lower inflammation in all organs and conditions,” Dr. Drucker said.

So I recently learned that GLP-1 medications have a half life of 7 days.

Not knowing exactly what that meant I did a little research about what "half life" means.

What I learned (in a nut shell) is that the GLP-1 isn't "used up" in a week, and every new jab stacks on what's leftover from the previous jabs. So I'm not starting from ground Zero every week, and it slowly builds up over time.

Friday custom: Each Friday, with out fail, I get a Dunkin’ Donuts egg and cheese on an every little thing bagel with an additional egg. My daughter loves grabbing her cool drink earlier than faculty, so it’s turn out to be our little ritual, however I preserve it to Fridays so it doesn’t turn out to be an costly behavior. Lunch (12 p.m.) I’m usually not very hungry at lunch, however I’ve…

THINK GLOBAL HEALTH -- The Mental Health Effects of Ozempic and GLP-1 Drugs